And Then We Both Smiled
by Lavenderpaw
Summary: A three part Jake memorabilia.He goes into depth about how he felt from the very beginning with Rose.From the first season,to the 2nd season.Also,this story will contain spoilers in chapter three concerning Homecoming and then Hong Kong Longs possibly.
1. My first log

The first time I saw her,I performed the simplest act known to mankind,I gave her a smile.

They say you don't fall in love at first sight,that you have to search for the perfect person and sometimes it can take so long you wind up a homely cat lady anyways.But,sometimes I believe it can and does happen.I know one things for sure,it has happened to me;Jake.

It's kind of weird when and if it happens to you,let me explain.You make eye contact and it's like the world fades away from you.Your worries,your fears,your science test that you're frettin' about,sinks to the back of your mind.It's all replaced by the image of Rose.

That's the person I fell for.I saw her as flawless and even when I didn't know her all that well at first.I could picture her as free and fun-loving.The way her blue eyes shone when she locked them with mine,the way her golden hair lifted off her shoulders when the wind caught it and picked it up.That beautiful smile.I could pratically walk on air around her.

It was like a dream,a wonderful,perfect dream seeing her around.

Rose always seemed like she was there but she was just out of reach,usually she was with Brad shoving her around everywhere.But the second she accepted my offer to dance and the moment she approached me at the end of the dance,I knew something was offical.

This wasn't quite a dream any longer,she wasn't just a beautiful angel playing at my heart strings,she was more realistic.Now that I had more to work with,I started to try to win her over more.Including auditioning for a school play.That's when reality really took a huge U-turn,darnet.I couldn't even kiss her!But that didn't mean I gave up,I really did want to feel like she was more real.Kissing her would have made it all more real for me.Her more real.

Sometimes I wondered what she saw in me,Trixie advised me several times to steer clear of her and I shrugged off her dislike toward Rose.She got more naggy over time,um,this is something I'll come back to.Anyways,I tried my hands at sincerety.Because what I felt for her _was_ sincere and asked her out.I really did like her and the dream feel was still there.

Our first date was awesome and since I was a regular in wood shop,I gave her the full on pleasure of letting her see my first attempt at an ice sculpture.That was when I first became aware of our height difference more closely.Man,I hate my height sometimes.But she was finally ready for this and so was I.I had to form a more stronger link with her and this was the way to do it,this was the way to make my dream of being with Rose more of a reality.

Let me tell you this,all that time I thought our first kiss would make this great,dreamy and sighingly instant infatuation with her more within reach,I was wrong.Totally dead wrong.

You don't know what it's like to have your heart ripped apart,I didn't want to believe what Trixie said was true.She was like the little voice in my head telling me something was going on and I needed to pay attention.I'll admitt something,sometimes I am blinded by my own wants and needs.I didn't realize it and a few times,it nearly costed my family or friend's life.

I'll be more basic in this case,it nearly cost me my life.For once I wasn't blinded by these feelings I had for a girl I saw off and on.I did go weak in the knees and my heart did start to sputter really fast,the typical reaction of a crush.But this never happened until I set my sights upon that symbol of a dragon on Rose's hand.The glove came off.No pun intended.

I wasn't mad,I was just disappointed.I wasn't sad,I was just trying to wake up from my dream that had just turned into a nightmare.Against my better judgement at the time I went and saved her.That's how strong my feelings had gotten,were,but I somewhat regretted it.

Saving her after she had dealt me such a low,it wasn't fair.No.

But it wasn't enough for her to die for,however,my feelings for her became distant once I'd gotten a chance to think about it and it made me wonder.Had I loved her for her or just as a sort of goddess from my daydreams?I blocked the thoughts from my mind and went on with my duties.I figured if I just avoided her and stopped any further contact,Rose would lose interest.There was a small part of me that still liked her but I didn't know how I did.

After near hit and misses with her over several weeks,after being uneasy with the side of her I liked,the side of her I had grown to disdain more then ever finally confronted me one night.I hadn't seen Thorn for a long time and my instant reaction was to do my whole Am Drag routine.I wasn't going to avoid her,maybe Rose but I had a score to settle with this side of her.She wasn't going to get away for being ungrateful,she was never going to win.

But when I found myself landed in a trap and chained to a pole waiting for the dumb Hunts pre-hunting ceremony thing,I realised that being stubborn wasn't going to help me win and really it had just about ended me.Some time passed when everyone left and in the midst of struggling against my chains,I came to the conclusion to try and appeal Rose,not Huntsgirl.

To try and just slip in a few words to wake her up.From what I'd seen of the Huntsman,he wasn't much different one way or another.So I thought,maybe there was a stronger reason then just destiney why Rose was doing this and I even told her so when she made her little visit after a while.Though I didn't get through really,she gave me two things:hope and fear.

Hope,because she had noticed my eyes were familiar and to which I must agree their not half bad lookin'.Again,no pun intended.And then fear.She seemed to be paying quite a bit of attention to human Jake but what would she do if she found I was one in the same?The time wasn't right to puzzle over this,I had to escape.Besides,she had made it pretty clear.

She intended to slay me and be like the Huntsman.But what got to me was that she didn't seem to have a choice.Rose was Thorn and Thorn was Rose.She was as mind-boggling as a jig saw puzzle,she was beautiful but had a dark streak in her a mile long.She cared and yet she couldn't care less.Still,it might not of been all her fault.But I didn't stick around long enough to ask more questions.I not only left to ensure the other's safety but my own.

All the time I was prepping the other magical creatures,something else kept nagging at me.

I was getting tired of being tracked down like a wild animal for all these months,no matter how much I didn't want to see Rose be put through this,in the end she had to help herself.

Somewhat hours later and thats were the big irony got me.It was either make the hugest and probably most stupidest admission to Thorn or get killed.At this point I had nothing to lose.Sure,my family and friends.But right in this moment,all that mattered was me and her.

Changing down was like pulling off a mask and announcing."Got'cha!It was only me."

And that's just it,it was only me.I was one and the same.The question was,was she?I saw the wild look in her blue eyes disappear the moment they took in my human form and for the first time,I felt a tinge of sadness.I hadn't before but all of a sudden,we were just two young teenagers looking into each other's eyes.When we looked at each other without any hatred,disappointment or anger,we were just two kids who had started to like each other.

The last thing she said was my name.She sounded shocked,big surprise,and at the time all that mattered was shutting my lids and letting her decide.I loved her still,but I hated her.It all happened so fast and she was gone.Without a second glance,she spared me and left.

My feelings were no longer mixed after I got another few moments to think about it while my name was being chanted.In fact,my new friends helped apt of my spirit once more and helped me to get a better grasp of the lighter side of the situation,Rose returned the favor.

It was like a great rush of relief mingled with happiness surged in me.As always it was too important to keep to myself and I even told Gramps and Fu.Everyone,with the exception of Trix who never liked her to begin with,seemed to agree with me that the good side,Rose's side,had prevailed.She liked me more then she hated me.Or had hated me.Heck,at this point I thought she might have even loved me...until I got the photo that is.

I had forgotten the silly thing,it was just a quick snapshot of us in the middle of the dance where we had paused and then resumed dancing.But now,it was the only thing I had left of her.I'll get back to what happened afterwards,let's just say it was a whole bigger deal then finding out she was the Huntsgirl.No,scratch that.It was _WAY _bigger then finding out.This affected me more then anything I cared to explain at the time.But finally,I'm ready to talk.

I'm ready to begin telling when I really started to feel what love was.

**To be continued**...


	2. My next log

Three months.To anyone it's the bulk of a fun summer.For me it was the endless void of abyss.

Remember when I told you I found out who Rose was,that was pretty hard to stomach but in the back of my mind I knew it was possible.But this was totally unexpected,unplanned for.And to me,uncalled for.She saved my life and just packed up and left with no clue of where she was.

I felt somewhat betrayed by the fact that she didn't give me anything to go on but our first and only picture together.Then I remembered my suspicions from the hunt.The Huntsman was very possibly forcing this on Rose to the point where she couldn't say no and what would stop a cold dude like that from holding her hostage?Maybe he had forced the truth out of her for not slaying my dragon tail back in the forest.To both my worry and disappointment,she had decided to go.

Yep.Just get up and go off like doing something as natural as breathing.Rose had been at my school all semester and now she was gone.What I felt all the time was a sort of fleeting hope that she would reach me somehow and that's where you could say my obsessions went too far.

My life turned more drastic and desperate each day.I acted on idea and impulse,yet there was one thing clear as day in my mind...Rose needed me.She wouldn't of spared me,go against all those expectations and risk getting into tremendous trouble if our relationship hadn't mattered to her enough.But eventually my sparks of hope were growing dimmer and dimmer with each day.

Every second,every minute,every hour,every...well,I think you get the idea anyway.

Until Fu introduced me to a little thing called Krylock venom and then what went through me at the time he told me this stuff could help me find Rose can be summed up in one word:joy.When that whole thing backfired,I totally gave up.It just seemed pointless,all so completely stupid.My life was going downhill anyway,so why fight it?Why don't we skip on ahead to the portal part.

For the first time my mind had been completely unfocused on Rose and on my dragon duties,it was game-time and the Am Drag was back.It's funny how things happen when you least expect them to or aren't thinking about them.But there she was,dressed down in her Hunts outfit but the feeling I felt wasn't happiness.Real bizarre but true.I felt caught in the middle.There was that question again,that you can only have things one way.Do I go fulfill my wants or other's needs?

But I made the right choice in my mind,even if my heart felt trampled on.I'll never forget the way she looked at me though.She wanted me to step through there,she wanted to talk.The dream meeting didn't cut it but out of the blue I was left with hope.She wanted to get in contact with me and even though I still didn't know how she could be doing it,I made sure to sleep longer.

And I mean,an extra three to four hours worth for a week or so.

The time finally came to go undercover to the Huntsclan Academy.I knew that Rose being there was likely since she was a big link to the head honcho but I didn't voice it to Spud until the night we set out to retrieve more data on the top secret doomsday plot.Somehow having my dreams becoming a reality of seeing Rose again outside dreams and portals made me consider leaving.

Seeing her go all Huntsgirl on me during Dragon 101 was unnerving and made me want to bail.

Yeah,that was pretty short lived when Rose found us but feeling her body next to mine was the greatest thing I could of hoped at our next meeting.There was only two things I wanted from her now.One,to help us get the plans.Two,for her to be with me and away from this awful lifestyle.

After going through a rough dose of it,I didn't want the full serving.I wanted to get the info,get Rose to bail on the Huntsclan and go home.But she only met me half way.That wasn't going to stop me.Once I felt gettin' what we needed to know was in our immediate future,mission two was hard pressed into me.Make it up to Rose for not telling her sooner who I was and sparing me at both our risk by convincing her to come with us and being together just to be together.

My luck didn't hold out and I was sentenced to a slaying.I didn't give up altogether.On my own selfish feelings,yes..I know I was going out and I was going out with making a _real_ name for myself.Not just some title the 'American Dragon',I was going to give Rose and all magical beings the best gift I could give...myself.By giving my life up,I was giving everyone a fighting chance.

Rose aruged,of course.But I knew this was it.If it was me or her,this time,it was going to be me.

At the time I was so absorbed with everyone else I couldn't even visualise the concept of dying and never coming back again and even when I was given a thin chance at living,I didn't dwell on it long enough to even begin to appreciate it.My mind was set and my mission inevitable,pull off a convincing act and try to free us both.That was the most serious I could ever remember being.

Well,that I remember.The only other thing I really remember was the kiss.It was like gigantic waves clashing together,two great and horrible experiences bunched into one unforgetting time that made me know for sure,we were in love.Oh god,did I feel in love with her in that moment.

No dream lathered gushiness.Straight out compassion.But when her lips left mine,the dream feel came back.It wasn't good but it wasn't nightmarish either.I was fighting Thorn the Huntsgirl like I always had but it was just like I was in a haze about the whole thing.My seriousness had been drained by the kiss and my mission was foggy.I really just flung fire balls,got hit and took a dive.

Hmm.Well,in this case it's sort of pun intended.I half dived,half fell when Rose hit me and I don't even remember taking the potion;I just blacked out.The next thing I knew I was lying on a cold metal table with an excited Spud and an oddly calm Rose to greet me.She didn't waste even a second to give me much detail,and me still finding it hard to believe we actually succeded with it.

So basically while I was still playing guessing games about how long I'd been out and what all had happened,Rose took the lead like she pretty much had been doing since we got here and in the time it took me to realise I was on my way home without the needed info,it was far too late.

I remember she gave me this sort of vague look,it wasn't like when she was in the Huntclan full time but it wasn't exactly a sign she wanted to get together in the future.It also wasn't flat out rejection,no.She hadn't said it but then again I figured she was probably a little in awe herself.All the time I was there pretty much,Rose was all business and I didn't blame her.I nearly was too.

But still she made me wonder.That was the thing about Rose,she always made you wonder...

Well,let's just say my supposed 'rejection' didn't last long.Because the next thing I knew I heard a familiar voice and this familiar voice belonged to the one and only,you guessed it,Rose.There she was and the one thing that was even greater then hearing her,was seeing her and that smile.

That was the first thing I noticed,was that beautiful smile of hers.

I'll be sure to unravel our great Aztec Skull plot in my next log...as well as the conclusion.It has not been easy to tell you all of this.In fact,there were times it would've been impossible.But I'm going to continue and finish my story.So hold tight,I'm just getting warmed up.No pun intended.

But you know,being a dragon and all it's sometimes hard to tell.

To Be Continued...


	3. My final log

If someone were to say I was glad to have Rose back,they'd almost be lying.That's just how much of an understatement it'd be.I was filled with enough happiness to last me probably the rest of my life.I mean here we were,taking a stroll through the same park on nearly the same day a year ago I found out that she was Huntsgirl and already it had felt like a life-time together.Everything goin' great and then I bring a bad topic:Huntsclan.

Way to go,Jake.That lit the ignition to an explosion of trouble.Not just because us being together wasn't a good idea in the outside world,which at the time I saw nothing wrong with but the beginning of nearly the end with the whole Aztec skull thing.After the fight,I received several let-downs and Rose eventually caved to a study session at the library.

I look on myself then and I still can't believe I put her in danger like that.All over a silly skin condition that comes every decade but all I can say is it ended pretty well for the two of us.Rose pulled the molted dragon skin over Huntloser's eyes,a skull was in our posession,our grade was passing and best of all Rose and I got to go on dream dates.

Dates so great they were like a dream,no pun intended.Yeah,I'm stopping that.They all were fun but meanwhile Rose was struggling with something that had never even began to cross my mind;her family was alive and she wanted to find them.Later when she told me about them and how the Huntsman had tooken her,I could only imagine what Rose felt.

The thought of never growing up with my parents,Haley,Gramps...it was unimaginable.I think I'll go into this after a while.Now about these skulls,the idea that they could wipe us out totally freaked me out.But made the fire in me burn all the more.I remember the Huntsman drooling over the skull I accidently gave him.He wanted us dead,completely.

But Rose gave me assurance everything would be okay and I trusted her.Sometimes in a way,even for me,it's hard to believe I could put as much trust in her as I did after not only finding out she had once had to slay me,but may have even wanted to.I still puzzle over if she was fully reformed...and I think in tiny way she still did.But Rose wasn't a heartless tyrant.She would never hurt me and I would never hurt her;no,not intentionally.

The truth is,I trusted she wouldn't slay my skin but our relationship was still complicated in a way.We were close but sometimes things got shifty.Brad,for instance,would always find just the wrong moment to make a move with her.I don't know why but that's where my fears got the better of me.It was like instinct to keep her from Brad.Almost like there was an instinct to protect her from the Huntsman's fury,I tried to protect her from Brad.

It was partly for my selfishness,yes.It was also because I didn't want someone like that jerk all up in her grill.He didn't deserve a girl like her and all the time I thought that I did the right thing.What was wrong?So I made her fall in love with me?There's only a few really terrible and shameful things I've achieved in my life,this was definitely one of them.

She already loved me.It wasn't voiced by her but the evidence was more then convincing.

Having Rose come after me like that was a reminder of how things once were when we were enemies and instead of keeping her close to me,I had pushed her further away by trying to force out what already existed.Finally Rose was restored but of course the damange was already done and I let her walk away from me even as I called out to her.

I didn't have the guts to go after her but thankfully the brains to not do anything more to upset her.She may have gave our relationship a starting point to problems again but with me giving them a huge push,things were shaping up none too nicely.I look back and I think that the next few weeks were the foundation of mounting up suspense for us two.

It was like watching a television series numbering off a few episodes towards the end in order to build up until just the right moment to deliver the final hit.Yeah _RIGHT,_like our whole entire remaining time together could be compared to a TV show.Gimme a break.

The skull situtation was halted and about a month passed where things got interesting at times.We stopped the Huntsman from getting revenge on the leprecon clan I'd worked for,we managed to cut off several connections the Huntsman had with criminals outside of the U.S. and all the while we kept our relationship strictly and utterly 'professional'.Ugh.

I hated that word but I also found out Rose's dream to find out about her parents.And that was how she found out.No pun-uh,ahem.Anyhow,she told me about it once when she used her dream charm and from then on it remained lodged in my mind.I respected her wishes and we only stayed partners.The only slight chance at starting something up again we had was when she thanked me for the picture,which I gave Haley her props.

I admitted it was my sister's painting and then the bell rang in the hall,cutting us off.

Rose and I bumped into each other the next week and my heart skipped a beat at seeing her but my memory and mouth beat my mind.Though something awesome really started when we least expected it,we were made Homecoming king and queen!But celebrating was cut short with the arrival of the last skull and us,of course,running straight to battle.

I got the upper claw and Rose was in a slightly willing mood about the upcoming dance but then my feelings started to shift toward her feelings.And you know,that's what I had been told you do in a relationship.Not the shift towards someone/Rose's feelings part or that I ever consult my parents or anything but I came up with a great alternative dance.

There,I swore I would help her find her parents and if her eyes didn't glow more then a thousand wat light bulb or a trillion times more then the disco ball above,then I just don't know.But seeing her so happy about the idea of finding her parents,to finally have just a normal life,was something that made me feel like I was finally making it up to her.I wanted Rose to be happy but happiness comes with a price and in this case it took both of us.That's the thing about happiness,you have it for only so long and then it's just gone.

Rose betrayed me.I heard Fu Dog say those impossible words,paraphrased however.I heard what he said but I refused to believe him in those few minutes.He was wrong.He was just confused.Rose wouldn't do this to me,my eyes stung some.She wouldn't do it.

"So...it's true."

That's all I could get out when they arrived.The Huntsclan had ruined everything and the moment I saw her I knew it wasn't her doing.It was the Huntsman again,it was all about what he wanted and he had somehow forced Rose into this.Like he had at birth,like he was doing now.Since he had always had something to hide,I thought I'd just reveal him.

I nailed him hard in the skull.It was the only thing I could to to alleviate my anger.If this monster was going to put everything on the line just to kill us off,then I was gonna know what he had to hide under that darned skull.And believe me,the guy wasn't a pretty sight.

But that guy was now the least of my worries,because I had Ro-Huntsgirl to handle now that the skulls were nearly fully assembled.We circled each other like two lions about to maim one another.My insides were boiling with raw nerve and the blue eyes of a girl I had looked into for the first time and fell in love with,were cluttered with no feeling at all.

I could sense the Huntsman off to our side but my eyes were locked with hers.It was as if he wasn't even there anymore and everything he said that reached me was wasted but not so much on Thorn.We stayed this way for a good long time before I heard mention of the one thing that made everything come together...the Huntsman was blackmailing her with the lowdown on her family.With all that said and done,we went into full on battle mode.

What I felt at the time was something of relief and shock.Relief that Rose had a good motivation for this but shocked that she would go this far to protect a couple of people she had never even met.However,I realised something else.This was how desperate she was to have a normal life,this was how much the girl of my heart,not dreams,wanted to get rid and be done with all of this.All this went through my head as she chained me up.

Then Rose did something unbelievable (well,she'd done it once before) she blasted the Huntsman.That wasn't the unbelievable part.Rose wished for the Huntsclan's elimination.

Even as I watched them slowly rise into the air and evaporate like drops of water,it was all too uncomprehending.This wasn't a dream,this wasn't a nightmare.These were human beings dying right on the spot and finally the full extent of what Rose had done dawned.

Her face was calm and didn't look in the least bit sorry as she began to rise in the air.It's impossible to tell you how I felt.Mainly because what I felt can't be put into words but I can say that my last mission in life was to hold on to her.If it was going to end with her rising into the air and evaporating like water droplets,then we'd both become rain as one.

I'm not sure why I let go.Heck,I didn't even feel her fingers loosen in mine.Rose's hand was soft but grip was firm;at first.She told me everything would be okay and I wanted to believe her,I wanted to trust her.I'd be going on a limb to say some otherwordly power pried us apart.But of course,I'd be lying.No,it was that promising smile she let me have.

She rose high and even when the light fell over her face and eyes,I still saw Rose's smile.

Everything after that fell apart.I fell apart and then only strength I had left I used to save her life.After that,I left and then buried my claws to weep out my-well,let's just say that I didn't talk to anyone until the next day.My mind was settling on something as I flew over the rooftops of all those shops and homes.Rose was alive.I didn't know where and I did not know in the least bit how,but I could feel her.It's strange,but I knew she still existed.

Now,you may be wondering what went through my head at the end of school the very next day when I stepped out and bumped into someone.Was it her english lit. book I'd accidently knocked to the ground?Nope.Was it her tight new threads?Close but no,not quite.It was Rose.I thought I'd go insane with happiness but I just stuck to acting casual.

Aside from the outfit,nothing was too different about her.But you know what everyone says,looks can be deceiving.It didn't take me more then a few moments to realise who it really was.It was Rose.But it wasn't the Rose I'd known and yet that didn't mean that I couldn't get to know her.When she asked me if we had met,I denied it.I really hated to.

Another big let down was that she was moving and then like that,she left.But she didn't just leave...she came up to two people who needed no introduction.They were the two people missing from Rose's life one time and they had every right to have their daugther.

She had every right to have a mother and father.

Even as Rose drove away,I knew that one day I would see her again.As usual,I had no clue in the world as to how this was gonna happen.It wasn't the fact that we had found each other many times before,it wasn't that I looked familiar to her,I just knew we'd be together and with that in mind I knew I was going to make it through everything after all.

Just like when we had both met each other I knew things were yet to come.Even though I felt like a total clutz bumping into her.We locked eyes,blinked,and then we both smiled.

Signed,

Jacob Luke Long.

In another part of the world...

A teenaged girl sat with a laptop on wheels stationed in front of her.It was a rather cheap makeshift computer since the laptop was her father's old one and though it had seasoned enough to fight against even the harshest of viruses,it had an outdated appearance to it.

"Rose!"Her mother's voice wafted from downstairs."Come on,hon.Your supper's cold."

She gave a rare roll of her sapphire eyes._Then why don't you warm it up,mother?_

The annoying voice that announced incoming mail startled her slightly,though only further reminded her of the computer's antiquity.Clicking on the little glowing envelope icon,lay a three page journal form e-mail that she noticed with interest included her name several times.Curious,she scrolled to the top and began reading at least the first few sentences.

The first time I saw her,I performed the simplest act known to mankind,I gave her a smile.

The End.

**A/N:**If I continue this,it'll be after the premiere of Homecoming.Thanks for reading.

LP


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